Jim continued, "Anna had a broken collar bone and a ton of glass in her hair, over her body, and in her ears. The passenger airbag did deploy, but she was sitting farther away from it than Irene was from hers. Since Irene is shorter and had the seat moved up more for driving, she was protected with the airbag fully surrounding her. As days passed, Anna learned that she also had a herniated disc in her neck plus a ligament problem in her right knee."
After my all-night surgeries, one of the doctors talked with Jim to explain my situation. First, he asked Jim if I had been wearing a seatbelt. Jim told him that I set the example for the rest of the family in always wearing seatbelts. The doctor's second question was about airbags. The answer again was affirmative. The car had driver and passenger airbags. Jim was completely amazed when the doctor told him the airbags saved my life and prevented worse injuries for Anna.
Allen's Death Granted Me Life
We had just purchased a 1995 Honda Accord one month before the accident. Our previous Accord was four years older and did not have airbags. The only reason we even had this newer car was because we bought it from the estate of a dear friend, Allen Neighbarger, who had died in an ultralight crash just seven months before my accident. It's overwhelming for me to realize that Allen's death granted me life. His death made the car available. It's but a taste of what Jesus did for me.The doctor went on to describe in detail the exact nature of my injuries. He listed all areas for Jim - complete breaks of both left and right fibula and right tibia plus hairline fractures of left tibia (lower legs), crushed right patella and chipped left patella (kneecaps), complete break into three pieces of my left femur and complete break of my right femur (upper legs), complete break of ulna and radius (left forearm), complete break of humerus (right upper arm), several rib fractures, collapsed right lung, and a head concussion.
Jim almost fell over in his effort to comprehend it all. He knew I must have been in a horrendous amount of pain.
From the CT scans, the doctors noticed a dark area inside my body which raised concern. The general surgeon performed exploratory surgery first to check out my insides and palpate all my organs. Finding all to be well, the orthopedic surgeons spent the rest of the 12 hours realigning my bones, inserting rods into the bone centers, and screwing them into place at the ends of the bones.
My lower right leg has a rod from knee to ankle. Both upper legs have rods from hip to knee. My left forearm has two stainless steel plates. My right upper arm had a rod from shoulder to elbow, but this was removed four months later. The rods are all titanium and are secured with titanium screws.
When Jim received this information, it was about 8:00 in the morning. He had been there all night wondering about me and praying for me. I was placed into intensive care where I stayed for eight days.
Depressed and Frustrated
My stay at the hospital was 15 days, and then I was transferred to the rehab wing of a skilled nursing center for 4 weeks. Knowing this was my destination, I became depressed and frustrated. I even tried to get out of bed by myself in the early morning of my transfer date. That was non-productive as I needed the help of two persons to get out of bed.I really did NOT want to go to that place. My father had ministered at such places and our family went along to sing. I did not want to be there even if it was a rehab wing. I was angry at my husband for allowing this to happen. And believe me, visiting there and living there are not compatible experiences.
Before I left the hospital I had questions for Dr. Roth, my general surgeon. "Will I walk again? I used to line dance, what about that?" I asked. He assured me I would do both. I told him about trying to get out of bed. Of course, he told me that if I do it again, I would probably fall and split my head wide open. His answer was enough to make me choose to be good.
My first day in rehab was Thursday and I received no therapy until Monday. With nothing to do and being stuck in bed, I cried the whole 4 days. I couldn't see out my window. My roommate was anti-social. I couldn't get out of bed without two staff persons lifting me out. Even if I could have been in a wheelchair, I couldn't push myself around because of my broken arms. I was not a happy camper. I slipped easily into a "poor-me" state of mind.
